Steve Mills and his wife have one daughter. They previously owned two coffee/ice cream shops, currently operate an internet sales company and teach classes, but his primary job involves the paper industry worldwide. Hobbies and interests lie in gardening, photography, recorded music and of course, their pets.

Looks like we will have a mild winter so let's Weed'em & Reap!

Guess you can tell my headline ideas are running on fumes lately, but we may in fact have a Winter that allows us to squeeze some extra growing time for cold weather plants.

BUT before I digress too far, our next Weed'em & Reap Garden Club meeting is this coming Friday, Jan 27th, starting at 7:00 p.m. at the New Century Chinese Buffet on Madison Street in Shelbyville, Tennessee (The Volunteer State). Whew, I could not think of more to try to cram in the sentence. Well, I could but....

Just to remind some of you, to inform those who may have just found this blog, or those who might be coming from adjoining States, there are no dues, no officers, no dress codes, rules, except civility. Just new and old friends talking around the tables about gardening. You can eat or not, no worries.

I am going to try to make a concerted effort to present short presentations on different topics. Since it looks like we might be able to grow some cool weather crops this late Winter, maybe we will do something on identifying and starting those type of plants. Maybe some ideas for staring containers, soil preparation and crop protection.

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BY the way, yes my cilantro, mints, catnip and dill are STILL alive! They have been unprotected all winter except for "The Force" apparently. For some reason, they have not succumbed to the 19 degree cold snaps. I wish I could claim credit for them surviving, but, they did it on their own.

The garden is facing South and slightly East so they get any rising sun warmth right away. Since the slope is at the top of a hill, the coldest air slides by them on the way to the bottom, so maybe this has given them and edge.

-- Posted by stevemills on Tue, Jan 24, 2012, at 7:35 AM

Returning to the Weed'em & Reap meeting, please feel free to come if you have never planted anything but are just curios, OR if you have planted EVERYTHING and want to share your experience. We welcome everyone in between, of course. :-)

-- Posted by stevemills on Tue, Jan 24, 2012, at 7:43 AM

broccoli and cabbages are sprouted in my wintersown containers. If I could get a few people to come over and dig up these tulip bulbs (free for the taking) I'd start getting ready to put them in ground in a few weeks. When I got my back yard plowed up, it just spread my tulip patch all over... half my garden is tulips and they must go!

-- Posted by craftin_mom on Tue, Jan 24, 2012, at 10:31 AM

That sounds like a good deal. Tulip bulbs can get expensive.

-- Posted by stevemills on Tue, Jan 24, 2012, at 2:45 PM

We are going to try and plant a few different veggies this year (carrots, spinach, and snap peas). When is the perfect time to start planting carrots? I have heard some people plant them in the fall.

I just planted the seeds today in containers until they are ready for the garden.

-- Posted by PrpleHze on Tue, Jan 24, 2012, at 9:27 PM

Carrots can be planted in the fall but need some straw protection or cloches to overwinter. Extreme winters might get them, so if you expect extended temps below 25, I would add extra light weight mulch or some other cover.

Root crops like carrots and beets do not do well being transplanted. Spinach and peas should transplant fine.

I'm a little worried about the carrots. They usually take a while to germinate, so don't get concerned, but as soon as they do, I would transplant soil and all to the garden without disturbing the root. Then protect for a few days to acclimate them.

If you expect temps below 25 or heavy frost, I might protect them for a while longer. If you wait very long after germination the tap root of the carrot will get stunted. Unless, they are small globe shaped carrots and they might do better, but.....I am not sure.

Of course, with Mother Nature, nothing is a sure thing. :-)

-- Posted by stevemills on Tue, Jan 24, 2012, at 10:33 PM

http://www.flickr.com/photos/aquariawintersoul/4510234813/ This is what my tulips look like in bloom. The bulbs are rather small, about the size of the tip of my pinky. I don't have time to dig them all up just to give away, but if someone wants to bring a shovel and a small container to carry them in, come on and get them. My email is lonesome_dove989 at yahoo.com.

-- Posted by craftin_mom on Wed, Jan 25, 2012, at 8:09 AM

Thank you Steve.

I use containers such as the large egg cartons to start my seeds out in. They are biodegradable so I normally make a pin hole at the bottom of them for the water to drain. And when they are ready to plant, I cut the carton and plant it that way.